Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Budget-friendly and feature-rich, the Android-powered Samsung Exhibit II 4G keeps you connected to everything you love--fast. And with prepaid and postpaid calling plans from T-Mobile's No Annual Contract, you'll be able to pay the way you want without being tied down to a monthly contract (learn more about prepaid services below).

This phone is specifically designed for T-Mobile's 4G HSPA+ mobile broadband network, which currently covers over 200 million people across the U.S. (read more about HSPA+ below). The Exhibit II 4G also offers Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking as well as the ability to share its 3G/4G Internet connection with other laptops and other Wi-Fi enabled devices.

Capture on-the-go photos and videos with the 3-megapixel camera (with DVD-quality video capture). Additionally, the Exhibit II is outfitted with a front-facing VGA camera for composing self portraits for social networks as well as video chats over 4G or Wi-Fi.

Other features include a 3.7-inch multi-touch display, Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity for hands-free devices and stereo music streaming, microSD memory expansion to 32 GB, access to personal/corporate e-mail, music player, full HTML web browser with support for Flash, and up to 5.5 hours of talk time.

Mobile Entertainment

Samsung's Media Hub enables you to rent or purchase movies and TV shows within seconds watch from the convenience of anywhere. With Media Hub's progressive downloading feature, you can start watching your content almost immediately as the rest of the file downloads to the Exhibit II. Plus, all Media Hub content can be shared among five Media Hub-enabled devices on the same account.

The Samsung Exhibit II 4G weighs 4.1 ounces and measures 4.54 x 2.35 x 0.45 inches. Its 1500 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 5.5 hours of talk time, and up to 360 hours (15 days) of standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies, as well as T-Mobile's 3G/4G network (1700/2100 MHz; UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+).

T-Mobile prepaid plans give you wireless access with less commitment, so you can pay--and talk--as you go. With no annual contract, no credit check, and no monthly bill, prepaid plans are a simple, direct way to go mobile. There are many ways to conveniently refill your T-Mobile Prepaid Plan so that you can stay continually connected with the people who matter most, including using web2go directly from your phone, via the T-Mobile Web site, or using refill cards available at over 90,000 locations nationwide.

With Pay As You Go, you get wireless service exactly how you like it--there's no long-term contract, no credit checks, and no surprises. Add $100 in refills with Pay As You Go and you'll become a Gold Rewards customer, which gets you 15 percent more minutes on all refills and your minutes won't expire for a year after the time you refill.

T-Mobile's Super-Fast 4G Mobile Broadband Network

As of October, 2011, T-Mobile's 4G (HSPA+ 21) network is available in over 190 major metropolitan areas across the U.S.--covering 200 million people across the country. Network upgrades will continue rolling out through 2012.

T-Mobile's 4G mobile broadband network (powered by HSPA+) provides a theoretical capability of up to 21 Mbps peak download speeds, with average download speeds typically in the 5 to 8 Mbps range.

T-Mobile Wi-Fi Calling Service

Effortlessly transition between Wi-Fi calling and T-Mobile's wireless network while you talk with T-Mobile's innovative Wi-Fi Calling technology. Wi-Fi Calling is a free feature for this phone, and minutes used while connected to the Wi-Fi network count against available rate plan minutes.

Powered by Kineto's Smart Wi-Fi Application, T-Mobile's Wi-Fi Calling for Android smartphones is ready to use out-of-the-box, providing the ability to make voice calls and send SMS from accessible Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) access points across the globe in addition to the connectivity available through T-Mobile's mobile network. The application also includes a tutorial for first-time users.

Android Gingerbread Operating System

The Samsung Exhibit II runs the Android 2.3 operating system (dubbed Gingerbread)--the fastest version of Android available for smartphones yet. It features a cleaner, more refined interface with new icons, improved top notification bar, and more intuitive navigation.

Multitasking in Gingerbread allows you the ability to run more than one app at a time. If you're playing a game, you can easily switch to an incoming e-mail and then switch back to the game without losing your place. And like the previous version of Android ("Froyo"), Gingerbread provides support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 for access to the full Web.

The onscreen keyboard makes it easier to type thanks to additional spacing between the keys and larger font sizes. And the more you use the keyboard, the easier typing will be as the enhanced suggest feature records previous input history to make better suggestions.

The Exhibit II also brings one-touch access to the popular Google mobile services you use every day. It also provides easy access to both personal and corporate e-mail, calendars, and contacts supported by Exchange Server and Gmail. And through Android Market, you'll get access to thousands of useful applications, widgets, and fun games to download and install on your phone, with many more apps being added every day.

Google Integration

Android Market for browsing and downloading thousands of free and paid apps

Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g/n) for accessing home and corporate networks as well as hotspots while on the go.

Wi-Fi Calling enables you to send and receive calls and messages over any Wi-Fi network, whether at home or on the road with Wi-Fi and Mobile Calling--even in areas that have little or no network coverage.

Wi-Fi Sharing capabilities allows you to use your phone's 3G/4G mobile broadband to connect laptops and other Wi-Fi enabled devices to the Internet (up to 8 devices).

Costumer Reviews

Let me begin by saying I'm an economist. Logos do not impress me. Excellent price/performance ratios impress me. Although I must admit, the Exhibit II is a fairly beautiful phone in real life; don't let the photos scare you.

This powerful yet humble device has the same memory (512MB RAM) and CPU speed (1GHz) as the iPhone 4. And, dare I say, it actually makes phone calls. It even has a larger screen than the latest $700+ iPhone 4S. Still with me?

Why I bought this phone (with a new prepaid plan):

1. Freedom: With T-Mobile's prepaid plans, you can start or stop your service anytime without any fines. You can switch carriers, sell your phone, and walk away without even saying goodbye. You own the phone, the phone doesn't own you.

2. Screen: 3.7" is a great size for a touchscreen. It will actually fit in your pocket unlike larger phones and tablets. The 800x480 resolution makes for a relatively high pixel density (252 ppi) and looks fantastic.

3. Android: This phone is shipped with the latest version of Android currently on the market (2.3.5). The Android market has grown to the point where iOS no longer dominates in the arena of apps. With over 250,000 apps to choose from, I'm almost overwhelmed.

4. Price: Why spend $500 to $800 on a flagship phone when you can get 90% of the utility/functionality for $200? Get one for yourself, and another four for family and friends. Otherwise, you can get one Apple iPhone 4S 64GB - Factory Unlocked -...for the same price. At $200, if my phone is destroyed, lost, or stolen, it's not the end of the world.

5. Plan: The phone is shipped with a prepaid SIM card, so there's no need to order the $7.00 SIM card from T-Mobile. For $30/month you get 5GB of "4G" data, unlimited texts, and 100 minutes of talk. My advice: Setup a Google Voice and get either the GrooveIP app ($5.00) or the Google Voice Callback app (free) and you'll be able to make unlimited domestic calls for free, over the internet. It works quite well and even allows you to make much cheaper international calls than you would through your carrier. Just make sure to set it up correctly, so you don't accidentally use up all your minutes.

6. ROI: The return on investment is phenomenal. This phone truly represents a breakthrough in information and communications technology. For the first time in history, with a device that costs $200 and service that costs $1 a day, you can have a 3.7" window to the world that goes with you, guides you, informs you, entertains you, wakes you, and connects you to everyone and everything that matters in your life. The list of gadgets that this phone makes obsolete would go on for pages, but let me just say that if you don't have a smartphone yet, for whatever reason, get this phone and don't look back. Welcome to a new era of mobile!

I was finally released after serving a 2-year sentence, I mean, ahhh....contract. I'm free at last!

EDIT: (after 1 week with the phone)

Performance (including call quality) is excellent while battery life falls short of miraculous, with 4-5 hours of nonstop web-surfing at full brightness with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and cell service turned on. If you turn down screen brightness and disable Bluetooth, you may be able to double that time.

The Exhibit II has already helped me install a projector screen using stud finder and bubble level apps that worked so well I returned my $45 stud finder to Lowe's. I'm throwing away all the radios in my house because I now get over 50,000 stations on my phone. The 3Mp camera on the phone doesn't quite replace my old DSLR, but it works flawlessly for bar-code scanning, jpg-to-pdf scanning, and other "utilitarian" applications. By the way, the maximum video capture resolution is 640x480, not 720x480.

EDIT 2: (after 4 weeks with the phone)

My Exhibit II is still going strong and looks brand new, even after dropping it a few times. I've gotten used to using Samsung's "swype" keyboard which is the only technology I've seen that truly makes touchscreen typing viable beyond a few words. Not even the iPhone can provide this indispensable feature. The more I use the phone, the more I realize what's possible, especially when there's an app for just about everything. With this kind of price/performance, I'm not surprised that the phone is out of stock at both Amazon and Walmart.com. If you're planning to get this phone, good luck finding it in stock! On eBay, the going rate for this phone is $250. Get it on Amazon, if you can.

EDIT 3: (After 40 days with the phone)

The phone still works perfectly and looks great. Even now, it's easily the best smartphone under $300 and, at $189, has the best price-performance of any phone currently on the market.

UPDATE: The microphone issue has been resolved! Now my phone is running like a boss :D

I love this phone! I picked it up at WalMart because of their exclusive $30 monthly plan with 100 talk minutes, unlimited text, and unlimited web (first 5GB at 4G speed per month, rest of the month slows down to EDGE).

It does come with a lot of crap T-Mobile loaded up with, but I rooted the phone with SuperOneClick easily, and installed an application which allowed me to uninstall the bloatwares (Root Uninstaller in Market). For those who cannot for the life of them find the USB drivers for this phone, you have to use the ones for Samsung Galaxy S (LOL WTF). Just go to Softpedia, search for "samsung galaxy s", and download the one called "Samsung Galaxy S USB Driver 1.4.2.2". This package contains driver for both 32- and 64-bit Windows. Install it, and enable USB debug mode on your phone, and you're ready to root it.

This phone has very decent specs:

1GHz single core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor (S2)

512MB of RAM

Dual-facing camera with LED flash on back one

4G network - HSPA+ (Up to 14.4Mbps)

3.7" TFT high-res touch-screen (Like 480x800 or something)

PREPAID! LOW MONTHLY PRICES!

Everything I do on this phone is snappy. If I do somehow go over my talk minutes, I just use GrooVe IP with Google Voice for free calls (Uses data). All apps are compatible with this phone unlike most prepaid carriers that limit the phone's functionality. Although I did have a huge disappointment finding out that 4G is not available in my house, so I'm limited to EDGE. But my Wi-Fi should take care of that! (25Mbps down/1Mbps up :D)

There are currently no custom ROMs for this phone, but it is rootable and can be customized. I recommend getting LauncherPro from the Market to customize the homescreen.

There is one problem I ran into: the microphone does not function correctly in any application other than the stock "Camera" app. This shouldn't be a hardware problem, but a software problem. I'll look around for some answers.

I still can't believe the $30 a month plan! After tax it was only $32.05, so really, I'm not complaining. Be sure to get a microSD card though (Up to 32GB), and a class 4 one too, because if you like to put a lot of music and apps on the phone, you only get ~2GB internally.